A local man has completed the trip of a lifetime, cycling a huge 6,500km all the way from Nairobi, Kenya to Cape Town, South Africa. 

Seventy-three-year-old Tony Harris and his son Richard returned to New Zealand earlier this month after completing the cross-country epic with Tour D’Afrique.

On the 50-day trip they biked an average of 130km each day with the shortest travel day coming in at around 80km and the longest at 220km. 

Just ten rest days broke up the routine, which usually saw the bikers on the road by 6.30am.

Some of the elephants Tony encountered on ‘Elephant Highway’ in Botswana.

Africa is home to some of the earth’s most stunning landscapes, and the trip transited everything from lush rainforests to endless savannahs and soaring mountains.

“The average daily ascent was 800m but that ranged from almost zero to 2,000m,” Tony said. 

Botswana was Tony’s favourite of the seven countries he travelled through, and a highlight was biking along the country’s famous ‘Elephant Highway’ and seeing elephants, giraffes and zebras.

While Namibia’s arid desert landscapes were stunning “the sand in Namibia is never going to be a biker’s friend”, Tony said, citing the long stretches of dry sand as some of the toughest of the trip.

Locals they met during the journey helped keep the riders’ spirits high.

“The local people often seemed like they were expecting us,” Tony said. “In some places the whole school was out on the side of the road. The kids were just so excited.”

“They jumped up and down and waved and ran alongside us.”

Locals were excited to see the riders as they passed through rural areas.

Tony said the Tour D’Afrique staff, who provided food, water, medical support and much more “couldn’t have been better”, but the riders still lived simply, spending their nights camping.

“We had a number of what they call ‘bush camps’ which are basically right out in the bush but sometimes those bush camps consisted of a soccer field and a school and we would camp on the sports fields,” Tony said.

Tony slept well, tired from the physical challenge, the “intense focus” of the long days on the bike and the many concerns - from navigation to punctures and the fear of bodily or mechanical failure.

He said emotions that developed during the long days could be very intense.

“When you are extremely tired, small things become issues which are really only issues in a tired man’s head,” he said.

Arriving in Cape Town after so many weeks on the bike was a surreal feeling, Tony said.

He was “dangerously close” to the end of his tether by that time but seeing the city, first in the distance, then getting closer and closer, came with a huge sense of accomplishment.

One of many ‘bush camps’ during the trip.

Tony said the trip came with a “whole lot of soul searching” and he has returned with a different perspective.

“You reset your values to some extent - it happens for you.”

After being home for a few weeks, Tony is getting used to being back in a normal routine - and starting to think about his next adventure.

“I was warned it would become addictive and at the time I couldn’t believe it,” Tony said.

“Now I’m all for trying something along those lines again.”

PHOTOS: Supplied